Japanese Patent Publication No. 36510/1985, in Example 3, describes production of a halide/alkoxy-containing magnesium compound using 1-ethylheptoxymagnesium chloride and 1-ethylheptanol without indicating whether such a halide alkoxy-containing magnesium compound, which contains a ligand derived from a secondary alcohol bearing an alkyl branch on the carbon atom alpha to the hydroxyl group, either is or is not hydrocarbon soluble.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,792,640 and 4,820,879 to V. C. Mehta both describe hydrocarbyloxy magnesium halides of the general formula ROMgX, where X is halide, such as chloride, and where R can be alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, or aralkyl. Both the more recent '640 and '879 patents indicate that either beta-alkyl substituted acyclic secondary alcohols are to be used to achieve hydrocarbon solubility or the "less preferred" secondary alcohols bearing alkyl substitution "further than the beta position from the carbon atom bearing the hydroxyl group" are to be employed (see Col. 3, lines 6-23 and 35-45 of the '640 patent, for example.
The net implication of the combined teachings is that normal secondary alcohols which contain alkyl branching on the alpha carbon atom (i.e., the same carbon atom bearing the hydroxyl group) are not to be selected if hydrocarbon solubility is desired.